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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bass — low music
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cell — in biology
  12. band — a ring
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bass — the fish
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tube — a container
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. band — a music group
  22. stem — to come from
  23. tube — the underground
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com